Beekeepers' challenge is to keep their colonies alive

Published: March 27, 2012 4:00AM

By LINDA HALL

Staff Writer

WOOSTER -- A vision of Ohio without honeybees is a bleak picture.

In the worst case scenario, according to information from the Ohio State Beekeepers Association and the Central Ohio Beekeepers Association, it could mean not only no honey, but no apples, peaches, strawberries, squash, raspberries, cucumbers or flowers, either.

The number of honeybee hives in the state has declined from 330,000 in the 1940s to just 32,109 in 2010, according to a brochure put out by the two organizations.

The decrease is a result of fewer family farms, suburban expansion into rural areas, increase of disease among bees, and the reduction in price of locally produced honey.

The importance of bees lies in their being "the only insects producing food eaten by man" and the fact that "an estimated 80 percent of crop insect pollination is accomplished by honeybees," the brochure said.

The fragility of the bee population doesn't consist of just one problem, but "a thousand little ones," said Denise Ellsworth, program director for honeybees and native pollinators at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

"There is no one thing we can point to," Ellsworth said, rather, there are "a lot of stresses" on honeybees and native pollinators, such as pesticides which can kill or weaken bees.

One of the major stresses is "all kinds of pests," she said. "(The bees) have diseases, mites and parasites that can affect them." Additionally, "There is a new array of pests coming up," Ellsworth said," and "Beekeepers have to keep up (with them)."

"(Bees are) a domesticated animal," she said. No longer does one see "many honeybees that are feral, or wild."

The wild bee population began to disappear in the early part of 2000, she said. Those few that are wild form nests and honeycombs in the recesses of trees.

"One good thing is the (burgeoning) interest in beekeeping," Ellsworth said, with "a lot of people coming into the (practice)."

Their challenge is to "keep colonies going," she said.

The primary foods for honeybees and a lot of other bees are honey and nectar.

"In the act of collecting them, they also distribute pollen, which is what we need for crop production," Ellsworth said.

Farms and orchards actually rent hives -- "a service beekeepers are able to provide," she said.

They may rent for $80 a hive, said beekeeper Anne Foster of Shreve.

As important as agriculture is, there are more advantages to bees than crop production. For example, "they pollinate native plants," Ellsworth said, noting wild plants "might need a specific pollinator" to produce fruits and seeds.

"We wouldn't have so much food for wildlife (without bees)," she said.

One way everyone can benefit the bee population is by "enhanc(ing) pollinator habitats," which can also be beautiful, she said.

Clover makes a good pollinator habitat, said beekeeper Ed Block of Doylestown, although "most people don't like (it) in their grass."

The public will have more exposure to the world of bees and the benefit they provide through what "we're developing on campus -- a pollinatarium," Ellsworth said, which is housed in the Meeting House, one of the OARDC's oldest buildings.

"It's so new it's not really open (to the public) yet," she said; activities and displays are still being worked out. "We'll also have a pollinator garden."